Great Game, Overall a Winner!
Made it to 3rd stage after several tries. I love the overhead air combat shooter style games like this (and Raiden for Neo Geo. I wish that the weapon power ups were more available. My jaw nearly dropped after getting 5 of those Weapon Powerups in a row (the blast took up 50% of the screen and plowed right through anything!)
Also, since each ship starts out with a different power up, you should make them start out with those same power ups even after you die.
Other than that, the game is damn addictive!